God is My Co-Pilot?

Shortly after I left the church, I began seeing ‘God is my Co-pilot’ bumper stickers everywhere. I have to say that I was seething with disgust over that one hypocritical statement.

These were Christians who claimed to put God first and above all else, and yet here they were putting themselves above God. Everyone knows that the co-pilot is lower-ranking and under the command of the pilot.

I was dumb-founded as to how any Christian could make this statement with a clear conscience. How could they so blatantly relegate their God to a secondary position?

I realize now that I was looking at the illustration from the wrong perspective. I was looking strictly at the rank of the two positions as opposed to looking at it from the perspective of the job descriptions.

I see now that I am indeed the pilot of my life. I have the throttle and the stick in my hands. It’s my own actions that determine where I’m going and how fast I’m going to get there.

I can veer off course and take a different route all-together. I can slow my journey down by making excuses for not doing something or I can charge full-bore into a project and get it done. Not that that’s necessarily good either as it might not be the right direction to be going.

So enters God as my co-pilot. Not only a co-pilot, but also my navigator. When I fall asleep at the stick, he’s there to pull me out of my tailspin. When I stall the engine, he gets it moving again. When I throttle up, he’s there to steady my space. And when I’m clearly on the wrong path, he’s there to steer me back onto the right path.

He doesn’t always react immediately. He sometimes lets me blunder into hazardous situations, but he’s always there beside me whispering in my ear. However, that is another tale in itself.

So, while I may be the pilot, and God gave me the free-will to fly my life the way I want to, I still need a co-pilot. I need someone to back me up and catch me when I fail. I need someone to tell me how to get home. Without Him, I’m just the prideful pilot who thinks he knows what he’s doing.

Take the stick and fly high, but never forget that you don’t fly alone. Listen to your co-pilot, He’ll always bring you home.